Corner Cafe good fit for Shalimar

Finding the Shalimar location of Corner Café can be tricky, but the search is well worthwhile.

The Corner Café mimics the original eatery located in Fort Walton Beach, but this one serves as one of those back-pocket places in one of our best back-pocket communities.

I invited two best back-pocket friends to join me for lunch on a beautiful, late-October day. AO Seeman, Gretchen Erickson and I enjoyed a fast, delicious and fiscally prudent lunch late in October.

THE FOOD

Let’s begin at the end: All three of us walked out of the Corner Café with to-go boxes, none of able to finish our meals. Let’s also note that not a single bit of cake made it out the door. We found room for our desserts.

Corner Café specializes in lunch, ranging from sandwiches to salads. A set price makes it easy to calculate the cost, averaging at $10 per person.

I have a weakness for club sandwiches, and the Corner Club sounded too good to pass up. I opted for it to be served on a croissant. This was one of those hard-to-eat sandwiches in the physical sense. It was layered thick with ham, turkey and bacon, and I felt that I was eating something larger than my fist.

Gretchen and AO showed me up by ordering salad.

“This is the Thai salad,” Gretchen said. “Even though I got the medium (spice), there’s not too much heat to it. You can get your heat cranked up.

“A lot of times when you get a salad, you get a lot of the white and the core. There’s not a lot of that.”

AO agreed about the abundance of green in her Cobb salad.

“I’m trying to figure out how to tackle this to get all the flavors,” AO also said as she faced the large portion. “I really like the bacon. It’s crispy. This is wow, it’s amazing.

“The salad is not all salad,” she continued. “It has lots of ingredients to go with the lettuce.” Those ingredients include avocado and chicken.

Salads come with one side. AO tried the potato salad, noting it has a creamy texture. She commented that both of her selections were served in vessels too small for the amount of food.

Gretchen selected lemon pound cake as her side: “The pound cake is light, moist and has a burst of lemon, and the glaze is not too sweet,” she said. “It’s a perfect ending for lunch.”

Sandwiches are accompanied by two sides. I tried to go healthy with the cucumber/tomato mix, set in a light dressing. My other side was the chocolate pound cake.

The cake had no chance of leaving the building.

THE ASTMOSPHERE

The Corner Café Shalimar sits inside the business complex just off 9th Avenue, a little off Eglin Parkway and with a view of the courthouse annex.

It’s easy to miss, but the red bench on the outside does set it apart from other shops and offices in the complex.

Inside is warm and welcoming, with utensils already placed on tables. You can pick your own spot. A back room expands the dining area, but it could be perfect for group gatherings.

Local art and military memorabilia line the walls; it is all thoughtfully placed.

THE SERVICE

Orders are taken at the front desk, and diners receive numbers to display on their tables. The food is brought to the table, although drinks are self-served. To-go is also self-served, with a station set up by the drink station.

“Don’t be discouraged if there’s a long line,” Gretchen said. “It’s quick.

“By the time I perused the whole (menu) board, we were there,” she added.

A FINAL TASTE

There isn’t a separate children’s menu, but with a little creative ordering, food won’t go to waste.

Corner Café serves quick, good food at a good price. It fits well in Shalimar.

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